After a promising first campaign under defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, the Crimson Tide is intent on taking the next step.
The unit enters this season having steadily improved throughout last year, finishing top-10 in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 17.4 points per game. Alabama will return key starters in defensive lineman Tim Keenan III, defensive back Keon Sabb, defensive back Domani Jackson, linebacker Deontae Lawson and edge rusher LT Overton.
The talent level the unit possesses has gained praise, with ESPN analyst Greg McElroy ranking the Crimson Tide at No. 6 on his top 10 defenses list coming into the season.
“Just think about how much more comfortable this Alabama group will be from top to bottom under Kane Wommack for the second year,” he said. “A ton of elite talent, a ton of guys that played last year. They got their feet wet and now, they’re poised to take a huge leap. This could be one of the best groups in the country by season’s end, assuming those young players can continue to develop the way they were developing throughout last season.”
Also returning are projected starters safety Bray Hubbard, defensive back Zabien Brown, linebacker Qua Russaw and defensive lineman James Smith. Hubbard and Brown provided much-needed stability in the secondary, with the unit lacking SEC experience coming into the season and dealing with injury issues throughout.
Russaw and Smith are expected to jump up in production in their third season at Alabama. Russaw recorded 36 total tackles and two interceptions in 2024, while Smith impressed in the Crimson Tide’s 19-13 Reliaquest Bowl loss to Michigan, picking up two tackles for loss and a sack in the losing effort.
While last season finished on a strong note despite some injury woes, the team at times lacked the tenacity required to win football games in the SEC. Wommack believes his unit can be more consistent, having notably struggled against Vanderbilt.
“I think the biggest experience that we can all gain from last season is there has to be a sense of urgency to do the same high-level job every single day,” Wommack said March 7. “But when you have success, it should breed a sense of urgency to create more success for you. And I don’t think we handled success well as a team, collectively, and I think that hurt us on the field.”
By adding notable defensive pieces like defensive back Dijon Lee, defensive lineman Kelby Collins, linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green, defensive back Cam Calhoun and others, Wommack will have a slew of talented players on his side of the ball to use in rotation. This is notable, given that Alabama’s defense struggled at times last season in part due to a lack of strong depth following a series of injuries, most notably Sabb’s season-ending foot injury he suffered against Tennessee and Lawson’s leg injury he suffered in the 24-3 upset loss to Oklahoma.
“The first thing that we wanted to make sure we did was continue to build depth that we can trust when it matters most,” Wommack said April 14. “You think about certain games that we had this past season, particularly on the back end, we did not have a lot of depth and it showed up.”
The Crimson Tide often rotated a large number of players last season, with 23 players recording double-digit tackles. The addition of talented depth pieces now could see Wommack further spread out snaps between his players.
Alabama will begin fall camp next month. The team will begin its 2025 campaign on the road in Tallahassee facing the Florida State Seminoles on Aug. 30.
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